[language] frequentative verbs!

[kaberett]

A door blows open in your mind when you learn about the suffix -le, it explains so much. People used to add it to verbs to mean 'more than once' or continuously--so originally, to ramble is 'to roam' on, to jostle is to joust repeatedly, and to sparkle is to emit lots of sparks.

-- Wylfcen on ex-Twitter, 10/04/2024

... plus a(n unsourced -- possibly subsequently-modified wiktionary?) screenshot of a definition ("A frequentative suffix of verbs, indicating repetition or continuousness") with examples (crack/crackle, daze/dazzle, draw/drawl, game/gamble, grope/grapple, hand/handle, nest/nestle, nose/nuzzle, prate/prattle, scribe/scribble, sniff/sniffle, wrest/wrestle).

Which I had no idea about and which delighted me. The Wikipedia page on frequentatives and the Wiktionary page give partially but not wholly overlapping lists of examples, with variably robust etymologies. I have been enjoying muttering -le words to myself and giggling for the past several days since this originally crossed my radar, and today I finally managed to find it again for sharing. Enjoy.

Comments

[azurelunatic]

Ooo!